Soraya Esfandiary, second wife of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, played in two films: an Italian film cut in three parts directed by Michelangelo Antonioni called I tre volti (1965) ("Three Faces of a Woman"), and She (1965/I) Both films were shot a few years after Soraya (who couldn't have children) and the Shah had divorced. Despite a promising debut , she did not pursue an acting career. She wrote her memoirs published in French under the title "Le Palais des solitudes" in the 90's available on which was a reedition of her first biography and a recent novel "Princesse d'argile". Ever since her divorce, Soraya has essentially mingled in the circles of the European Gotha.

Lived with Franco Indovina after they met on the set of I tre volti (1965). The lived in Rome and their relationship ended with his death.Allegedly, the contract with producer Dino De Laurentiis forbade her to smile because the tale of the "sad empress" created by newspapers was thought to be useful for advertising the movie I tre volti (1965).As the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Persia, she was only Queen consort, while his third wife Empress Farah Diba became Shahbanu (Empress) as the Shah declared himself the Emperor of Iran and Iran an Empire during his third and final marriage.Eldest child of Khalil Esfandiary, a notable and Iranian ambassador in West Germany in the 1950s, and his German wife Eva Klein.Is portrayed by Anna Valle in Soraya (2003) (TV).Is buried in the Westfriedhof, a cemetery in Munich, Germany.